Swamp Zombies
Drawbridge Over Cyberswamp The massive bridge extends partway across the Swamp, its demolished center spanned now by new construction but still with visible cracks and stress marks on both sides to mar its once-sturdy structure. On the south end of the bridge, a dark tower overlooks the infamous Cybertronian Swamps, one of the most feared areas since the great wars began. Clearly this has been an area of great importance throughout the eons of war, yet it looks like nothing was ever gained from it but death, as the countless rusted, half-submerged bodies of long-dead Transformers attest. Obvious exits: Fly leads to Sky above Cyberswamps . South leads to Northern Crossroads. South leads to Cyberswamp Bridge Tower. Down leads to Cybertronian Swamplands East. The dim, morose swampland is home to a different kind od denizen this day, the tall, green form of Longshot blending in with the subdued surroundings. He sits upon a rusty outcrop, head in his hands, looking longingly out over the swamp, and the rusted dead it contains. "Here they lay Those who once did fall Rotting, rusting They wait, unsung 'Til all are one." This swamp was certainly not a place that Vince had ever anticipated being. He had come, on behalf of the EDC, to lend a hand in keeping the Decepticons from taking complete control of the home planet of the Autobots, his friends and allies. Standing near the bridge controls, Vince's Ares kneels and the external speakers come to life, sending the human's prayer for the lost souls here out across the quiet of the place. The recent turn of events on Cybertron, needless to say, put the Combaticons well within their element. Seizing tactical locations, terrorizing locals, blowing up whoever was unlucky or stupid enough to get in their way... Just like the good ol' days. If they even remember them, being locked in stasis for extended periods of time can do funny things to the mind, and a lot of the memories were vage at best. But the plans were laid out, now was the time for action. "Personally, I don't see what's so wonderful about this location, but Onslaught insists it is necessary to protect Polyhex's flanks from being pinchered from the northern reachs." Blast Off rumbles as the shuttle cruises down from orbit. "Controlling the bridge will give us a stopgap against those obnoxious landpounders." Pause. "No offense to ground based teammates, of course." Gliding down low he comes to a stop and opens a hatch ramp so his teammate can roll out. Ah, the graveyard, the remains of wars past and present. A place to be respected, to grieve. Fortunately, Swindle never really respected the dead much. He'd much rather be selling off the parts that they left behind and clearly weren't using anymore. Sucks to be anyone who dies around him, huh? But not having any scruples about that sort of thing is what made Swindle useful for this sort of mission. Just the entire battle over Cybertron ordeal got his oil boiling and eager to kick some tail-pipes in. Then steal the autobots skidplates right under their noses. "No offence taken," Swindle cheerfully replies, transformed into his jeep mode within Blast Off's hold in order to conserve space. "Just keep any other bots showing up busy with some covering fire. Or something." With a rev of his engine, Swindle barrels out of the hatch and into autobot airspace. And starts to unfold, so that by the time that he hits the ground on the side of the bridge with the controls, he is in his robot form, guns already drawn. "Hello! Swindle here with a limited time offer from the DECEPTICONS!" Dreadwind is in the swamp on a rare patch of dry land, he sits there and stares into its heart, the dank fetid fluids that fill the area and the odd body sticking from the dark depths, the loss and suffering that permeats the area all mirror his own tortured existence. It all feels so familiar and almost comforting, if a thing such as comfort would be allowed to exist in the universe, still it's a nice place to relax and contemplate his final release from suffering... it won't last. As if to prove a point Blast Off flies ovehead, great just what he needed another huge ego as if dealing with Hi-Test wasn't bad enough. Sure the Combaticons aren't his troops but he'll never hear the end of it if he doesn't at least offer his aid, if he gets turned down at least he can say that he tried. He radios the fellow spacer, <> Combat: Vintage Army Jeep sets his defense level to Neutral. Longshot smiles faintly down at the human who has accompanied him on this expedition. "A human prayer is hardly neccasary, but the sentiment is appreciated." He says in his rough, gravely voice. He is, after all, sentimental at heart. "This swamp has been here for as long as I can remember, but it seems every time I come here, there are more bodies left here to rust. Let's see to it we don't join them." He adds solemnly, hefting his large hammer. Longshot's solemn moment is ruined, however, by the arrival of none other than the Combaticons. "Vince, get on those controls, I'll watch your back." He intones, and very un-gracefully leaps down from his perch, landing hip-deep in the rusty, filthy fluid that has flooded the area. "I stand firm, you cannot weaken my resolve, Decepticons." He says gravely, clutching his face-smashing hydraulic hammer. Combat: Longshot sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Longshot takes control of capture point E - Slimy Mudhole. With a small smile at Longshot, Vince comes once again to his feet. "It's my way, Longshot. They may not have been human, but they still had souls that need looking after." Turning at the sounds of Decepticons approaching, the human grumbles and starts trying to lock the controls for Autobot use only. That'd be about his only chance to keep the bridge secure, he thought. "On it!" Combat: ARES Exo-Armor takes control of capture point A - Drawbridge Control. "Well well, it seems we have found a few lowlifes playing in the mud as well. This mission certainly got more... interesting." He might get to blow a hole in the back of someone's brain module yet, and that certainly perks Blast Off's interest more than just covering Swindle's back. Once the jeep is off he lifts into the air. "Don't let them have the controls, Swindle!" Reaching the desired height he transforms, drawing his blaster and setting down on top of one of the reconstructed archs that support the lifting lines to the bridge. This looks like it would make an applicable sniping position, yes. Optics narrow down at Longshot standing in the mud, making a few mental calculations. But first obtaining the proverbial high-ground is more tactically important. The shuttle unfolds as its size compresses down to form layers of armor, wings folding up as limbs and a head emerge, and Blast Off now stands hauntily in robot mode. Combat: Blast Off takes control of capture point B - Bridge - Northern End. "Tsk tsk, this offer is one that you seriously can't refuse." And probably involves a lot of explosions. But first, Swindle has another task to take care of first. And he'll throw this one entirely free. He glares down at the human piloted exo-armor, and frowns. "Well, if you really want to have it that way." Swindle did always prefer to handle things in a more clever fashion. He returns his guns into storage, and quickly runs after to the drawbridge. But as the human enters the drawbridge controls, Swindle grabs ahold of several outside controls. Literally. He tears one of the outside control panel right off. And starts to play MacGuyver with the wires, somehow attempting to out-maneuver Vince with the system by re-routing the system. Combat: Vintage Army Jeep challenges ARES Exo-Armor for control of capture point A - Drawbridge Control. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor defeats Vintage Army Jeep in an epic duel of NERDERY! Vintage Army Jeep transforms into his Swindle mode. Dreadwind was about to stand and start heading to wherever Blast Off had deigned to land but his transmission was totally ignored, not that that surprised him in the least it's not like he isn't ignored by everyone anyway. Who knows maybe he is just head to Darkmount yeah that's it, it's not like there's any weapon fire in the vicinity. Hi-Test transforms and looks in the direction Blast Off headed in as Dreadwind moans at him, "See, i told you it was pointless to even ask, it's never worth the effort." Oh, that's not good! Vince pops open the service panel when he sees Swindle tear off a panel outside, and tries to keep ahead of the Decepticon's attempts to reroute the controls. "No, we can't have you doing any of that! Man, I wish I'd gone through electrical engineering school, instead of mechanical, at this point in time. Oh well, I'm still better with this stuff that /you/, Decepticon!" Combat: ARES Exo-Armor remains in control of capture point A - Drawbridge Control. Vince Larsen says, "Hey Longshot, think I should just drop the bridge on these two, and be done with 'em?" Longshot glowers up at Blast Off, taking the high ground and perching atop one of the arches, metaphorically placing himself in a position superior to Longshots own... But is it strategically superior? Longshot is an old hand at taking the defensive, while the Combaticons are young upstarts by comparison. "Too often you mistake altitude for superiority, Blast Off. Allow me to illustrate the opposite!" With a flick of his hammer, Longshot splashes some of the disgusting slime of the swamp upwards in a wave, hoping to splash even the haughty Blast Off with the disgusting muck. Combat: Longshot sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Longshot misses Blast Off with Drawbridge Over Cyberswamp's Swamp Goo attack! Combat: Used up 1 Attacks. 2 remain. Longshot says, "Do as you feel is best, Vince." Normally, Swindle is an easy going guy. None of this tensed up, beat skidplates first and let Primus settle them. But being denied entry to the computer system? Oh, well, that's just not going to stand for him! "So you want to play rough, huh human?" The combaticon puts down a few of the wires he was working with. Then grabs a few sparking wires, and proceeds to quickly work them here and there into the controls behind the panel. "Can your credit take the CHARGE?" And if his electrical re-wiring works, the panel on the other side might have a nice electrical discharge to it. Combat: Swindle challenges ARES Exo-Armor for control of capture point A - Drawbridge Control. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor defeats Swindle in an epic duel of NERDERY! Blast Off scoffs as the wave of muck is flung into the air, deploying the cannonds from his legs and firing. The stench of burned sludge and ionized air waifs up as the sludge is evaporated before it can reach him. "And your efforts fall short of your words as usual Autobot. Spare us the waste of time it is to listen to them." But otherwise he doesn't fire on the Autobot himself.... yet. It won't matter if Swindle can wrestle the controls away or not if they control the bridge itself afterall. Combat: Blast Off remains in control of capture point B - Bridge - Northern End. Dreadwind despairs at existence just as much as it seems to love his delicious suffering as again it ruins his viewpoint thanks to a large column of fetid fluid towers up into the air near the bridge. "See Dread i was right something is going on." He eventually turns his head just in time to miss the water effect, "I see nothing, much like the rest of our lives, meaningless actions that will result in nothing. If we are needed they'll call, it's the only time they ever want me around anyway, as a living shield for them..." Vince saw that move coming, and had already disabled the circuit that Swindle was trying to route through. With a laugh, the human continues to try to lock the controls out. If it came to a physical fight, things might get hairy, but he /might/ be able to hold if things stayed technical. "Nice try, bub. Maybe I should just sever the connection to external panels completely, right here at the source. They're just a secondary system, after all. "How about I just cut you off completely there." Combat: ARES Exo-Armor remains in control of capture point A - Drawbridge Control. If Blast Off wants to keep the high ground, let him. There isn't really much Longshot can do to wrest control of the bridge from the far faster Combaticon, but just because the bridge is high and dry doesn't mean it's /better/. "I shall remain here, among the bodies of the fallen. The dearly departed shall be my compatriots, this crude swamp my castle." Combat: Longshot sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Longshot remains in control of capture point E - Slimy Mudhole. Sometimes war was a game of chaos, of violence, screams and weapons blaring like roaring monsters lusting for blood. And sometimes it was a game of patience, and careful execution of moves. This seemed to be one of those times. Shame Onslaught and the others didn't come with, they could of easily out tactically maneuvered this two welps. Or formed Bruticus and stomped them into the mire, that would of worked too. "Yes, stay there, then your allies will not need to waste the additional effort in burying your rusted chassis when the walls of your so-called castle come crashing down around you." So they're not using their guns, that doesn't mean they can't shoot each other with words instead! Combat: Blast Off remains in control of capture point B - Bridge - Northern End. There are some nerds who, when losing, will take the entire board and throw it across the table. Not quite so for Swindle. Though he does leave a nice, decepticon fist shaped dent in the wall when the systems begin to lock him out. Who does that human think he is? Doesn't matter, at least for now. In a flurry of movement, Swindle reverts to his jeep form, and burns rubber away from the control tower. It looks like he's about to blaze his way down to the other side of the bridge and 'control' that portion of the area. But halfway across the bridge, he skids to a stop, fishtailing a little. He transforms again, unfolding from his jeep form, and steps over to the edge of the bridge. "... Ah-hah!" Oh, dear. Swindle leaps off of the bridge, anti-gravity devices controlling his descent until he lands into the swamp itself. "Hmm, is that a Laser guided missile launcher? Looks a bit rusty, but it might be of some use." Who needs courage when you have greed? Combat: Swindle takes control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Dreadwind turns back to stare with his cold dim optics back into the fetid decaying beauty that is the swamp, the thing that all will turn to eventually, everything lost and destroyed by nature before that too is destroyed with the planet. Hi-Test sighs and walks over beside his team mate, "Look i know you don't care, but look how far we've come already just from listening to me. Others would kill for the power we now weild, can't you take a little happiness from it? We really should go and see what that plume was all about. I can barely make out some figures moving about." "I find solace in the peace of these unfortunate souls. They know not to sully this hallowed ground with pompous self-righteosness, Blast Off." Longshot replies calmly. If it is to be a battle of patient attrition, there are few who can best Longshot at the waiting game. He did once spend a million years in one spot, composing a poem about the starry sky, after all. He stands, statuesque, calmly waiting the next move from the Decepticons. Combat: Longshot remains in control of capture point E - Slimy Mudhole. Ok, that worked! "Longshot, the bridge controls are locked for the Decepticons!" Vince grins and does a quick doublecheck on the systems, then exits the control shack and moves to the southern end of the bridge, using the controls for a little bit of cover. Hopefully it would be enough to hold the position. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor takes control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. All thoughts of being ousted by the human for control of the drawbridge has currently been shunted from Swindle's mind. After all, it was only the drawbridge. What good was that when they could just blast the bridge out, and most decepticons could still manage to get across. But there, in the graveyard, there was a literal gold mine. All of those parts, rusting and falling into disuse, just waiting to be refurbished and put to good use! It almost makes the creepiness of the entire place a little easier to handle. Just a little. Not much, really. As Swindle is investigating one of the parts, he glances behind him briefly, as if he had heard a ghost. But simply shrugs a little and puts it out of mind after a second. Combat: Swindle remains in control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. "Such emotional dribble," is all Blast Off has to say in response to that. Decepticon, mercenary, sniper: he has no interest in the dead once they reach that point. If the Autobot wishes to wallow amongst the dead, that's his own waste of time. Attention shifts to what's going on below on the bridge itself as the controls are locked and Swindle... well, Swindle is Swindle, he makes an apt oppritunity out of losing one location like one would expect. But that human pest is also making his move. Could he shoot him down as he runs? Hit, yes, but he's fought those Exos enough times now to know they're unlikely to just fall that easily. So instead he lowers his rifle and launchs off his perch towards the opposite end. "You should of stayed on your worthless mudball of your own planet were you belong, carbon germ," he snaps at Vince's machine as he attempts to outmaneuver him to the control station. Combat: Blast Off challenges ARES Exo-Armor for control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: Blast Off defeats ARES Exo-Armor in a duel of NINJA BACKFLIPS! Combat: Blast Off takes control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Dreadwind sighs but doesn't move, "You just don't get it do you, this all around us, this is the future and no one is willing to see it, between where we are now and when this occurs everywhere is only pain and suffering." "Vince, look out!" Longshot exclaims, but it's too late, as Blast Off swoops in. Vince will have to take care of himself for now, though, because Longshot doesn't like the way Swindle is looking at the remains of the dead. "How dare you defile the sanctity of the dead, Swindle! Does your greed know no bounds?" Hw shouts, and the slow, methodical warrior begins plodding through the muck to displace Swindle from the graveyard. Well, he didn't expect to be able to get into position and hold the bridge against the much more fast and agile Blast Off, who Vince has faced before. But he's a determined guy. So, for at least a few moments, he'll try to knock the Decepticon from the southern end of the bridge. Maybe he'll get lucky, and be able to maneuver this guy off the side and into the muck below. Combat: Longshot has given up control of capture point E - Slimy Mudhole. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor challenges Blast Off for control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor defeats Blast Off in a duel of NINJA BACKFLIPS! Combat: ARES Exo-Armor takes control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: Longshot challenges Swindle for control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Combat: Longshot defeats Swindle in a battle of INTESTINAL FORTITUDE! Combat: Longshot takes control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Blast Off gets to the other side first, but the smaller Exo-craft is still able to keep up. "Insolet little pest. Did not nearly getting your squishy bits scattered across Charr's landscape teach you anything? Prehaps I should finish that job..." Momentum makes up for size somewhat, and he's able to shove Blast Off away from the controls before he can actually use them, indeed knocking the Combaticon over the edge. And swoop under it, so that he comes up on the opposite side and thus behind Vince, blaster in hand. Pointed briefly at the exo... but then suddenly Blast Off bolts forward while Vine is hopefully expecting a shot, and tries to punch him away instead. Nobody expects Blast Off to pull a Brawl... which is exactly -why- he's doing it! Combat: Blast Off challenges ARES Exo-Armor for control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: Blast Off defeats ARES Exo-Armor in a duel of NINJA BACKFLIPS! Combat: Blast Off takes control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. It doesn't help matters much that Swindle is in the process of investigating another weapon system on another downed mech. He looks up from the laser gun, and attempts to look innocent. But fails, because he's holding some poor dead mech's gun. Which he drops immediately. "What, my greed?" A pause, "No, no it doesn't. It's really rather ingrained in my laser core." Hasn't he said that before somewhere? He takes a step back, giving up a little of his 'territory'. No one ever said that he was the brave one of the Combaticons. "I don't understand your types. They died, great! But they have armor and weapons that other people can use!" He pulls out his gyro gun, glaring back at Longshot. Admittedly, the graveyard is sort of creeping him out. "Would you rather they just rust and rot out here, being put to no use but an eyesore? Poor way to respect the dead!" Combat: Swindle challenges Longshot for control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Combat: Longshot defeats Swindle in a battle of INTESTINAL FORTITUDE! Dreadwind gives up fighting it, slowly, achingly he stands up still staring into the swamp, "Well if you insist that we have to do something then we should head south, they don't want us and we will need to survey the area before we are forced to act..." Hi-Test shakes his head and points towards the bridge, "But there's something going on just over there! Sometimes i really don't get you at all." Without further word Dreadwind transforms, allowing Hi-Test to jump in his cockpit and then the pair fly off. +POT Dreadwind is now observing. Combat: Your COMBAT flag has been cleared. HAHA! Vince laughed when Blast Off went over the side, but he wasn't stupid. He spun around when the Decepticon came up the other side, and did indeed expect a shot from the blaster. But he ducked away and off to the side before the much faster Combaticon can close to connect his sudden change to melee attack. Luckily, Vince anticipated this trouble and just conceded the area, or so it seemed. But instead, he had moved to the side and brought the Vulcan cannon on his Ares into firing position, and spun the barrels, letting a stream of tracers fly at Blast Off. "You know, I don't think you and I properly settled things on Charr. Let's do it now!" Combat: ARES Exo-Armor sets its defense level to Aggressive. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor misses Blast Off with its Vulcan Cannon. attack! -1 "They deserve a proper entombment, not this slaking away into rust..." Longshot replies, looking down disdainfully upon Swindle and his sticky fingers. "But what you suggest is barbarous! Scavenging the dead like a beast, they have suffered ENOUGH injustice without you coming in to disturb thier restless slumber! Better to leave them. Ashes to ashes, rust to rust." Longshot intones gravely. Brief motion catches his eye, and he thinks not all the denizens of this swamp are as dead as they seem... One headless boy seems to move of it's own accord, rising from the muck and making to grab at Swindle's nice shiny gyro-gun! "Lest the dead see fit to treat YOU as you would treat them!" Combat: Longshot sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Longshot strikes Swindle with Drawbridge Over Cyberswamp's ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!!!! attack! Combat: Used up 1 Attacks. 1 remain. Swindle opens his mouth to reply to Longshot. But he's distracted. By the zombies. Zombies rising right out of the muck. Zombies. Seriously. What the heck? Swindle stares, wide eyed as some of those near destroyed frames start to rise from their grave, and backs away a few steps. Right into another, which claws into him. He yanks his shoulder away from the zombie'd bot, and returns his gyro gun back into its 'holster' at the same moment. "I guess these guys are a little restless! Sorry gang, but the dead ought to stay DEAD." He reaches back. And pulls out another gun. This one looks a bit more like a high tech shotgun. A high tech, large shotgun. Glaring at the zombies, he doesn't bother to take aim. He just fires, shot after scattering shot. That is Swindle's boomstick. There are none like it, and this one is his. It does away with zombie bodies pretty well. Combat: Swindle challenges Longshot for control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Combat: Swindle defeats Longshot in a battle of INTESTINAL FORTITUDE! Combat: Swindle takes control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Blast Off's last pose: Shame they couldn't bring Brawl with, he'd out-guts any of these punks. But that's neither here or there for Blast Off to consider, seeing as he's under fire now too. Thrusting to the side, he ducks behind some of the not yet cleaned up rubble when the bridge was originally knocked down. It, however, still allows him to maintain a superior position over the local, he leans around the edge and fires with his blaster. Not directly at the Exo, but at the ground and struts around it, keeping the ARES at bay by giving him no room to maneuver in. Noah Wolfe says, "The Decepticons have risen the dead again!" Vince Larsen says, "Blame it on Swindle's greed. He tried to loot the poor dead Cybertronian souls here, and they rose to protect themselves." Jetfire says, "..." Jetfire says, "You're... serious? Discarded chassises reanimated their motor controls somehow?" Longshot says, "the fate he deserves, done in by his own hunger for material wealth." Vince Larsen says, "Looks that way. The spirit is an amazing thing, Jetfire." Longshot says, "Right as rain, Jetfire." Jetfire's scientific mind boggles. Thankfully he's not so rooted in logic like SOME scientists to not be able to accept it. "... Peculiar. This may bear farther examination at a later cycle when I am not preoccupied." Longshot is a poet, not a gunner(despite transforming into a giant gun)so he holds little jealousy for Swindle's boomstick. The swamp, however, seems to come alive around him, putting Longshot in a tough position. The zombies had helped him, but there's no gurantee they'll stay that way. Folding back, Longshot transforms into his alternate mode, assuming the form of a giant cannon, nearly the size of a greyhound bus. "Your boomstick is impressive, Swindle. But mine is /bigger/." The weapon replies, leveling the twin barrels down to point at Swindle's chassis. The gun's core begins to hum ominously, building power. Longshot slowly lowers to the ground and expands into an imposing cannon. Combat: Artillery Cannon challenges Swindle for control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Combat: Swindle defeats Artillery Cannon in a battle of INTESTINAL FORTITUDE! "Well," Vince started, "it's a nice try, to keep me pinned here. But I know this exo can take the weapons fire you're directing at my feet." And suddenly, be bolts forward in an attempt to push the Decepticon from his position once more by just rushing him. Maybe he'd back off, maybe he wouldn't. Either way, he had to try! Combat: ARES Exo-Armor challenges Blast Off for control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor defeats Blast Off in a duel of NINJA BACKFLIPS! Combat: ARES Exo-Armor takes control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Noah Wolfe says, "That's freaky. Are they moaning out for laser cores?" Longshot says, "They are attempting to mete out some poetic justice upon Swindle." Longshot says, "I must say, I approve." Vince Larsen says, "Normally, I'd be trying to perform some kind of exorcism, or last rights, to get them to lie back down, but under the circumstances, I'd say they're more than justified in their actions. Not to mention helping us out here." Blast Off curses as the exo-frame charges in despite his effort to keep it at bay, forcing the Combaticon to move clear of the charge and unfortunately surrending his superior position. "Persistant little annoyance." Jetting backwards, Blast Off charges up the energy of his blaster... but once again moves it swiftly in another direction from the exo-frame, aiming up and shooting. At a bundle of iron beams meant for the repair work, suspended from a lifting crane and left when the sight was abandoned with the breakout of aggressive territorial claims. The ion blast with Blast Off's impecible aim snaps the cable with easy and brings the beams crashing down in an attempt to block Vince off from progressing farther so Blast Off can reclaim his dominating position. Combat: Blast Off challenges ARES Exo-Armor for control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: Blast Off defeats ARES Exo-Armor in a duel of NINJA BACKFLIPS! Combat: Blast Off takes control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Now this is a bit more like it. Existentialism is more Dreadwind's shtick. Fighting things, blowing things up, now that's more like it for a COMBATICON. After a few blasts, Swindle pauses briefly to attach the scatter blaster to his arm. More accurate, that way. But the big gun that Longshot transforms into grabs the bot's attention. And just in time, it would seem. Swindle launches himself off to one side, expecting an incoming blast. And in a flurry of movement, transforms into his jeep mode again. With the scatter blaster fixed on his roof. "That's a nice gun, sure. But are you sure you really want to hold still like that with zombies all around you?" Swindle's wheels spin rapidly, and catch the head of a rising zombie just well enough to send the jeep barreling forward. And ramming right into zombies, his gun blaring. Combat: Swindle remains in control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. "As long as I am no threat to them, I have no need to fear." The huge cannon intones. "If any survive your onslaught of gunfire, Vince and I shall retire them to a proper grave, where they will be restless no longer." Longshot sits, waiting, keeping his weapon trained upon Swindle as the jeep scurries around. Will his fearless stance in the face of zombie-flavoured death be enough? Combat: Artillery Cannon sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Artillery Cannon challenges Swindle for control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Combat: Artillery Cannon defeats Swindle in a battle of INTESTINAL FORTITUDE! Combat: Artillery Cannon takes control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Vince watched Blast Off draw his ion blaster again, and then glanced up, where that blaster was aimed, and he frowned. That wasn't good. Leaping out of the way, and, like Blast Off, giving up the position to avoid being slammed into, the Ares is skillfully piloted and executes a neat roll maneuver, coming out of it to it's feet. But Vince isn't about to let Blast Off dig into his position. Turning, he raises both the exo's arms and charges the lasers attached to the forearms of the unit. Firing at the ground at the Combaticon's feet, he's trying to drive the agile, but fragile, Blast Off once more out of position as Vince again charges the position. "Will you just /leave/ already?!" Yes. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor challenges Blast Off for control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor defeats Blast Off in a duel of NINJA BACKFLIPS! Combat: ARES Exo-Armor takes control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Blast Off gahs, as he's forced to back off a bit again as Vince presses on, leaping away from the blasts and retaking to hovering in the air. The thought of transforming and just blasting away the annoyance does cross his mind, but again, there's no assurance he can disable his foe in one shot, and certainly not while he's at the disadvantaged position. "Why should I leave? This is the homeworld of -my- people, I have more right to being here than you, worm." Blast Off makes another lunge for the actual controls again, swooping down towards them like a vast predatory bird upon a squirming rabbit. "Why do you bother fighting here? If the Decepticons are in control of Cybertron, they would leave your worthless dust bin alone." Of course that's a total lie, but putting the idea in the human's head might still be to his advantage. Combat: Blast Off challenges ARES Exo-Armor for control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: Blast Off defeats ARES Exo-Armor in a duel of NINJA BACKFLIPS! Combat: Blast Off takes control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Swindle's more... direct approach to taking care of the zombies that rise out of the swamp isn't really making things better. That's for sure. Because more of them seem to be rising out of the much, chasing the speeding jeep. Or, well, a jeep that tries to speed. It's not easy on the swamp. But Swindle does a U-Turn, going back the way he came, with the zombies still sloughing along behind him. Those that remain, in either case. Instead of trying to get away from Longshot's gun, the combaticon barrels straight at it. He starts transforming in a roll, and lunges past Longshot. He attempts to grab the giant gun and aim him right at the zombies. "Are you so sure about that? I think that is a limited time offer by these undead bots!" Combat: Swindle challenges Artillery Cannon for control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Combat: Artillery Cannon defeats Swindle in a battle of INTESTINAL FORTITUDE! "They have suffered one traumatic death in battle already, Decepticon, and I think that is enough!" Longshot roars, his power generator's constant thrumming rising to a new crescendo. He is bent towards the evil dead, but still he does not fire, evne as they draw ever nearer. "I will not be like you, and blast them down where they stand. They know not what they do, and I will not punish them for thier restlessness!" Combat: Artillery Cannon remains in control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Well, this was just going back and forth. As Blast Off dives at him, Vince once again runs away from the strong position at the south end of the bridge, but he doesn't go far. Turning, he mutters something under his breath about Decepticons and morons, and then backs off a few steps to contemplate a new approach. "You might leave Earth alone for a while, but I doubt it. Not to mention that we are the allies of the Autobots, and as an ally, I stand by them in defense of /their/ world!" And then he brings his Vulcan Cannon again into firing position and opened up, letting the 20mm tracer rounds slice, apparently, harmlessly through the air above the Combaticon. What might be missed, however, was the fact that those tracer rounds are cutting through the crane that, until a moment ago, held the metal beams that Blast Off tried to drop onto Vince's head. Vince was going to try to drop the boom of the crane on Blast Off! Combat: ARES Exo-Armor challenges Blast Off for control of capture point C - Bridge - Southern End. Combat: Blast Off defeats ARES Exo-Armor in a duel of NINJA BACKFLIPS! "Do you really think that there's any sort of personality left in them?" Swindle peers past the barrel of the gun, smirking in the way that he does when he's attempting to make a deal. "Look at them, lurching by. Their laser cores are slagged, there's nothing left in them but residual energon and electrical processes." And plenty of metal, albeit rusted metal, for use in other sort of things. Yet, they're still approaching. And there's more of them. Swindle, of course, is hoping that they stay mindless and just try to gnaw on anything in their way. Combat: Swindle challenges Artillery Cannon for control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Combat: Artillery Cannon defeats Swindle in a battle of INTESTINAL FORTITUDE! Artillery Cannon is curageous to the core, and stands his ground in the face of adversity. "I believe the universe itself will strive for balance in all things eventually, Swindle. They would prefer to have remained in peace, I believe, and only rose up because of your negative actions. You would do best to leave this place, Swindle, and take your evil impulses away with you! Perhaps then the dead shall be in peace once more." Combat: Artillery Cannon remains in control of capture point D - Swamp Graveyard. Blast Off growls as the exo blows the crane off its moarings and launches into the air, view of the Combaticon briefly lost behind the collapsing heap of junk. But Swindle is having trouble, this waffling back and forth was going on for too long, they were losing whatever strategic standing they had. "Fine, then. If you wish to be a part of this war at their sides...." Blast Off rises higher into the air, seeming to have forgone the postion now that it looked like Swindle was losing his footing. Until he transforms once he's clear of the bridge, and clearly not leaving at all as from higher above the shuttle orients itself to point down. Cannons already locking into place at his sides, an ominous blue glow radiating from within. "... Then you can die at their sides as well!" Shame he doesn't have time to go all the way into orbit and do this fully, but time was of the essense. Like a thunderbolt from above the blinding blue-purple light screams forth as Blast Off pulls a 'if we can't have it no one will!' moment and attempts to orbital cannon the bridge platform, while the human craft is still on it! Combat: Blast Off sets his defense level to Fearless. The Combaticon folds up, yet at the same time expands several times in side, extending wings and engines to become a space shuttle. Combat: Space Shuttle strikes ARES Exo-Armor with his Orbital Bombardment Laser attack! -3 Longshot says, "Vince!" Vince Larsen says, "I'm getting cooked here, but I'm alright for now! I'll probably have a sunburn in a minute." Vince watches his attempt to remove Blast Off from his position succeed, but in a completely different way than he'd intended. He followed the course of the shuttle up, and frowned as he turned and tried to run. He knew what was coming, and he was trying to get clear. Unfortunately, there was no way the slower Ares was clearing the blast that was about to hit the area. So Vince did the next best thing, and just dove for the ground, face-first, to let the back of the Ares take as much of the blast as possible. The heat and light of that blast wasn't doing anything nice to Vince, and he started to feel a bit like a baked potato inside the exo-suit. Combat: ARES Exo-Armor takes extra time to steady itself. Pass This does not appear to be working. Perhaps something Longshot is saying is true after all, that they truly are coming after Swindle because of the harm he caused to them. In which case, aiming the gun at the encroaching zombies is not going to do him much good. He releases Longshot, just in time it would seem, as zombies begin swarming around the swindler bot. He glares around him at the souless, sparkless husks, a faint tinge of fear in his eyes. Mostly because he does not have enough ammunition for this sort of thing. He crouches, preparing to lunge himself into the air... And the zombies take the opourtnity. They lunge themselves on top of him, attempting to dogpile him before he could take off. He disappears under them briefly. But it doesn't stop Swindle though. A second later, and Swindle blasts upwards through the dogpile of zombies, scattering robotic husks here and there. A couple try to hold on to him, but they recieve the painful end of his scatterblaster, ripping them to shreds. "Tch, you can have your zombies this day, Autobot." He glares down at Longshot, but doesn't stay put as the zombies appear to still want to try and gnaw on his personality matrix. "This was a bad deal, anyway." Wasting no time, Swindle aims himself towards Blast Off, making his way quickly back to the other combaticon. It paled in comparison to actually taking the territory, but leaving the bridge in a state that would make it difficult for them to utilize for their primarily ground based forces was at least satisfying. Turning around to right himself in the air, Blast Off lives up to his name and takes off into the darkened skies of Cybertron